Electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers are often equipped with one or more cameras. For example, electronic devices may be equipped with a front-facing camera, which is oriented to capture an image of a subject located near a side of the electronic device which includes the main display of the electronic device. Electronic devices may also be equipped with a rear facing camera, which is oriented to capture an image of a subject located near a side of the electronic device which does not include the main display of the electronic device.
Electronic devices equipped with cameras often provide various features and functionalities for the cameras. A user of the electronic device may control camera features to capture an image based on the user's preferences. Features of the cameras that may be controlled include the camera lens aperture size, shutter speed, external flash, zooming, focusing, etc.
Some electronic devices provide cameras that allow for zooming features. Such zooming features may be provided in one of two ways, digital zoom and/or optical zoom. Digital zoom is a method of decreasing the field of view of a captured image by cropping the image down to an area (that is commonly a centered area) with the same aspect ratio as the captured image. The cropped image may then be interpolated back up to the dimension of the captured image to produce a zoomed image. In contrast, optical zoom optically increases the size of an image. Optical zoom features are commonly implemented by using movable lenses within the camera to decrease the field of view in order to capture a zoomed image.
Unfortunately, both digital zoom and optical zoom have their drawbacks. Digital zoom provides a zoomed image that suffers from detail loss as a cropped area of an image is expanded without adding any new detail to the zoomed image. While, optical zoom requires added parts within the camera in order for its implementation which increases the size and cost of the camera.
Like reference numerals are used in the drawings to denote like elements and features.